Shadows of the Lost World
by The.Void.Is.Null
Summary: Darkness is eternal. Darkness has always been and will always be. But in the midst of the darkness, there is always light. Light that pushes the darkness away. Light that provides a shield, a safe haven. But the lurking question remains: will the light prevail, or will eternal darkness reign? 1st fic.
1. I

I dashed through the forest, narrowly dodging an oak tree. Behind me, I heard the howls of hellhounds. Despite the cold wind, sweat poured down my back. I felt like my heart was collapsing in on itself. I wished I could stop and rest, but I knew that wasn't an option. The hounds would find me where I lay and tear me apart. I wished I could turn and fight like I used to, but I knew that wasn't an option either. I had nothing to fight with.

Once, in a time long past, demigods like me could walk in the open without getting killed. Once, there was a place for us to train, grow, and thrive. Once, there was hope in our lives. But two years ago, our world was destroyed. The gods fell; some faded, others wander in Tartarus for eternity. In their place, the Protogenoi rose in a dawn of death. Camp Half-blood, the only haven we ever had, was destroyed and erased from the world. We demigods were cast out into the forest, to be hunted to extinction by monsters. I don't know what the Primordials did to the mortals, but I've heard rumors. Terrible rumors.

In that time long past, I was known as Percy Jackson, Saviour of Olympus, Bane of the Titan Kronos, blah blah blah, insert a few more titles here. You might've heard some stories about me. But that was the past. Now, in this dark wilderness, nobody has a name.

My strength was failing. I knew I couldn't keep on like this. The hellhounds had infinitely better stamina; eventually, they'd wear me out and overtake me. I'd lost Riptide several days ago; the enchantment on it had vanished along with the gods. It no longer returned to my pocket. With my sword gone, I'd lost my last means of defense. By then, I knew it was only a matter of time.

With the last of my strength, I propelled myself forwards through the trees - only to find myself standing at the edge of a cliff. The ground dropped straight down into nothingness.

I turned around in time to spot the lead hellhound spring from the woods. Twelve others followed it, staring balefully at me with glowing red eyes. As if sensing that their prey was cornered, all thirteen of them slowed down. They growled menacingly.

I looked around, weighing my chances. I wasn't exactly known for my smartness back in the old days, but two years alone in the wilderness can really sharpen one's survival skills. To the left, my escape route was blocked by a pile of boulders. To the right, the ground sloped steeply downwards before dropping straight down, leaving no exit on that side. It didn't take much of a brain for me to realize that my chances of escaping were slim.

 _So this is how it all ends,_ I thought, as the hellhounds drew closer and closer. _R.I.P. Percy Jackson, Saviour of Olympus two times, died in the year 2018, killed by a pack of hellhounds._

It's weird how your life flashes before your eyes right before you're going to die. I saw myself as a 12-year-old again, struggling up Half-Blood Hill, chased by a minotaur. I saw once again my mom being taken by Hades. I saw myself, Annabeth, and Grover.

Annabeth... My heart ached when I thought of her. How she'd sacrificed her life near the end of the Great War, to save our lives. But her death was in vain. We lost the war. The gods were in Tartarus.

Her death affected all of us, but it hurt me the most. I felt like a piece of my soul had been torn away and crushed, like a piece of my life had been burned up. After two years, I still remembered her long blonde hair, her beautiful gray eyes, the way she smiled when she called me Seaweed Brain...I haven't heard that nickname in so long.

I relived all of my quests, saw myself killing all of the monsters, Titans, and Giants I'd killed before. I felt the agony of the Styx. I saw Luke sacrificing himself to defeat Kronos, fulfilling the prophecy. I experienced Camp Jupiter again. I felt all the pain and despair I'd went through in Tartarus. All my fond and not-so-fond memories.

I saw all my friends again. I saw Annabeth, Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank, Hazel. I saw Thalia, Nico, Grover, Coach Hedge, Clarisse, Chris, the Stolls, Katie Gardner, Luke. I saw Reyna, Dakota, Gwen. I saw Bianca and Zoe Nightshade. I saw everybody I'd ever fought alongside. I saw Annabeth.

I was plunged back into the Great War. I saw so many of my friends being slaughtered. I saw thousands upon thousands of monsters pouring out of the earth itself. I lived through the desperate final stand, felt the despair once again at seeing Zeus dethroned and beheaded. All the gods - my father, Poseidon - being hurled into the pit. Two years of hiding in terror, leading up to this.

I closed my eyes, waiting to be sent to Hades, or whatever it was called now. If the Underworld was still working the way it did two years ago.

But the end never came.

I heard a howl that wasn't mine. My eyes flew open. I saw the lead hellhound dissolving, an arrow sprouting from its back. Another one lunged towards me, but another arrow sliced through the air and struck it in the back. The hound dissolved into dust. The other eleven hesitated for a moment, then fled back to the forest. But none of them made it far before collapsing and disintegrating.

"I believe this is thy sword," a nearly emotionless female voice said, thrusting my familiar Celestial bronze sword - Riptide - at me.

It had been so long since I'd last heard another person's voice. I almost didn't recognize it. For about five seconds, I was staring blankly at the girl. Then suddenly, a name clicked in my mind.

It couldn't be. She was dead for years.

"Zoe?" I whispered.

* * *

 **So...yeah. That's my first fanfic. Or at least the first chapter of it. I've read a ton of Percy/Zoe fanfics (and Percy/Artemis, but that's a different story), so I just decided to write this one. It's probably pretty bad. Like it? Love it? (Gods forbid)** ** _Hate_** **it?**

 **In advance, I apologize for any OOC-ness.**

 **I'll try to update this as much as I can.**

 **\- XxShadowOfTheFuturexX**


	2. II

_It couldn't be. She was dead for years._

 _"Zoe?" I whispered._

* * *

"Well? Who did thou think I was, Perseus? The minotaur?" she deadpanned.

"But- but- you were dead!" I stuttered.

"That is a surprise, I feel very much alive right now."

"How are you -"

"When thou lost the war, Ouranos purged the sky of everyone he disliked and cast me out. I spent the last two years wandering around alone, hunting monsters. It seems like I was better at hanging on to my weapon than some other people I could mention." She smirked.

"I was in a difficult situation! And I managed to hold onto it for two years, even when it no longer returned to my pocket! I'd say that's a pretty good achievement!"

I slowly got to my feet. My legs still ached from running so far.

Suddenly, I blurted out, "Will you come with me?"

Zoe's eyes narrowed. "Are thou doubting my ability to fend for myself?"

"N-no, it's just..." I stuttered. "It's safer to be with someone else than it is to be alone. If we stay together, each of us will stand a better chance of survival than if we went our separate ways."

To my surprise, the hint of a smile crept onto her face. "I see thy intelligence has improved slightly," she said.

"Hello? You're acting like I didn't survive two years in the wilderness!"

"If I recall correctly, thou would have been killed if I hadn't saved thee. And I never said thou were actually intelligent, I just said thou became slightly more so. Before this, thou were so stupid that even after the improvement, thou still are not very intelligent."

"Those are large words for my small brain."

"Exactly."

She turned to leave. "Well?" she demanded. "Thou suggested that we stick together. Are thou having second thoughts? I don't know about thee, but I certainly don't feel like staying here for three months. Are thou coming or not?"

I picked up Riptide and prepared to follow her. But as I glanced upon her walking away, the world suddenly shifted. I wasn't on the edge of a cliff anymore.

* * *

 _I was sitting on a moonlit beach. Seawater lapped at the sand. Behind the beach was a row of trees that marked the boundary between sand and forest. In a distance, I could see dark silhouettes of cabins. I had a feeling that I hadn't felt for a long time: peace. I knew where I was. I was on the beach of Camp Half-Blood, my old home. The home I hadn't seen for two years. The home I would never see again._

 _"Seaweed Brain!" A familiar voice called out from behind me. I turned, and smiled when I saw who it was._

 _Annabeth sat down beside me on the sand. "It's really been a long time since we last sat together here, hasn't it?"_

 _I chuckled. "It really has." I heard myself reply._

 _She rested her head on my shoulder. "When this war is over, we'll finally have a normal life. We'll get married and have children, and live to a ripe old age. We'll find peace."_

 _I smiled at the thought. "How many children will we have?"_

 _"Three," she replied. "Obviously, they'll inherit my brains."_

 _"We can't be so sure about that," I joked._

 _"Of course they will!" she protested, feigning anger. "They can't get your brains, never in a million years. You're way too obtuse."_

 _"What does 'obtuse' mean again?"_

 _Annabeth laughed and pushed me playfully. I pushed her back, smiling. It was a rare moment of tranquility, the eye of the storm. The next day, we'd go back out to fight like we had for the past ten months. Annabeth would continue making battle strategies, and I would continue leading our troops into battle. But tonight, all that was put aside. I could enjoy being with my girlfriend, for once without the looming threat of death._

 _But that moment soon ended. Worry filled my mind again._

 _"How can we be so sure that we'll win this war?" I asked._

 _"Don't be so pessimistic," Annabeth replied. "We'll win this war soon, I know it."_

 _I gently kissed her. In that moment, I felt reassured and happy._

 _"We should probably go back to our cabins soon, the harpies will be out and I don't want them to catch us out here." She said._

 _"Yeah, we probably should," I agreed._

 _I watched her stand up and turn to leave. "Well?" she asked. "Are you coming or not? I don't feel like staying here and waiting for the harpies."_

 _I hesitated for a brief second, holding on to that one peaceful moment as long as I could. Then I got up and came after her. Together, we walked back towards the sleeping cabins._

 _Little did I know that that was the last night we'd ever spend together. The next morning, we'd prepare for battle and train together, just like always. But in the evening, she would never return from the battlefield. And we would never win the war._

* * *

I was forcibly pulled back into reality by a hard slap across my face. I looked up to see Zoe standing in front of me, looking annoyed.

"Stop daydreaming," she said. "Have thou made up thy mind yet? Are thou coming with me or not?" Without waiting for an answer, she began walking away.

I tried to force myself not to think about the flashback. But the image wouldn't leave my mind. I kept thinking about Annabeth turning to leave and asking whether or not I was coming with her, the night before her death. It was disturbingly similar to what Zoe had said as she prepared to leave. Was I going through deja vu?

I pushed those thoughts aside. "I'm coming," I called after her.

"Then walk faster! My Gods, boys are so slow..."

I hurried after her.

* * *

 **Please leave reviews! Tell me how you feel about this story so far. The longer the review, the better :)**

 **So, second chapter down. What did you think about it? Like it? Hate it? Do you think Percy's too smart? Please give some feedback so I know where to change!**

 **\- XxShadowOfTheFuturexX**


	3. III

_"Then walk faster! My Gods, boys are so slow..."_

 _I hurried after her._

* * *

We'd been walking through the forest for about an hour. I was cracking twigs with every step, while Zoe walked along as silently as a cat.

"Can't thou walk just a little louder?" Zoe remarked sarcastically. "There might be one or two monsters five miles away that can't hear thee."

"Oh I'm sorry, not everyone can move as silently as you, Zoe."

"How did thou manage to survive this long without Anaklusmos? With the amount of noise that thou make when thou take a step, thou can't hope to hide from them."

"Maybe I-"

Suddenly, Zoe clamped a hand over my mouth. "Shut up! I heard something up ahead."

Near the edge of a clearing, we crouched down in the bushes. I could hear movement in the undergrowth on the far side. Then four Scythian Dracanae slithered out into the clearing, flanked by at least a dozen hellhounds and accompanied by five Cyclopes.

"Ssssso," one of the dracanae hissed, "isssss it done?"

"It is done." One of the Cyclopes opened a massive Celestial bronze box and pulled out a completely black, five-foot-long sword. Dark clouds of ash drifted off of the blade, which was decorated with strange swirling patterns that seemed to constantly shift.

"Why does Lord Erebus even need a symbol of power anyways?" One of the other Cyclopes muttered. "And why does he want us to give it to you in the middle of the forest?"

"Sssssilence, fool!" a dracaena spat. "Lord Erebusssss hasssss hisssss own reasssssonsssss. It isssss not your place to quessssstion him!"

Still muttering under his breath, the Cyclops moved away. Suddenly, he looked up. "Half-bloods," he growled. "In the bushes, over there." He pointed directly at the spot where I was hiding.

My eyes widened.

"Sssssneaky little demigodsssss hiding in the bushesssss," the dracanae hissed. "You shall die!"

There was no use in hiding anymore, now that we'd been discovered. I pulled out Anaklusmos and stood up. "If we die, we're taking you with us." I proclaimed.

Next to me, Zoe muttered, "I thought the arena went out of fashion a long time ago."

The largest Cyclops dropped the sword and the box and charged at me. I smirked. So the stupidity was a natural trait.

Just as the Cyclops was about to ram into me, I sidestepped and swung my sword at him. The Cyclops roared and dissolved into golden dust as the blade passed through his chest.

Upon seeing their brother disintegrate, the remaining four Cyclopes were spurred in a rage. All of them simultaneously barreled towards me. I spotted a gap between two of them and spun through at just the right moment, my blade catching one in the midsection.

The other three Cyclopes smashed into each other. The the collision shook the ground and threw me off balance (yes, believe it or not, the force was that powerful). The Cyclopes were dazed and bewildered for a split second, enough time for me to regain my bearings and stab one of them in the back.

I turned on the other two, but then two arrows flew by, less than an inch from the side of my head, impaling themselves in the foreheads of the one-eyed giants.

"Hey, don't take all the glory for thyself!" Zoe smirked at me.

"I still have three kills compared to the two you just got," I stated. She glared at me but didn't answer verbally. Instead, she nocked an arrow and fired it almost straight at my face. I instinctively dove to the side as the arrow whipped past me and skewered a hellhound that had launched itself at me from behind. I'd been so focused on the Cyclopes that I'd forgotten about the other monsters.

"Now it's three to three, so thou can't talk. And I never knew thou were so afraid of sharp flying objects."

"Well, excuse me for thinking that arrow was gonna hit me."

"Stupid boy, if I wanted to kill thee I would've done it awhile ago. And I wouldn't've tried to kill thee in the middle of a fight with sixteen monsters remaining. I would've waited until after."

"Whatever." I turned back to the fight. Six monsters down, fifteen to go. I slashed my blade through an approaching hellhound's face and spun around to parry a strike from a dracaena. The snake-woman tried to stab at me from the side, but I stepped away and swung my sword at it, striking it in the stomach. The dracaena hissed angrily as it dissolved into golden dust.

Another hellhound tried to attack me from behind, but I heard it and sidestepped. The hellhound overshot in front of me and I stabbed it before it could turn around.

Three hellhounds sprang at me at once, but three arrows flew over my head in rapid succession. The hounds disintegrated in midair. Another one tried to avenge their deaths apparently, but met the same fate.

Two dracanae and a hellhound charged at me. I rolled under the hellhound as it bounded towards me and slashed at its underbelly. The hound howled as it dissolved.

One of the dracanae slithered towards me and swung its sword wildly. I met its attack with my own blade, which fell from its grasp from the sheer force of the blow. As it grabbed at its lost sword, I stabbed it in the chest. As the other dracaena raised its sword to strike at me, an arrow thudded in its neck.

There were four hellhounds left. The biggest of them snarled and leaped towards me. Definitely not the smartest one in the pack. I met its charge and stabbed my blade all the way into its eye. The hound screamed in pain and rage as it disintegrated. I saw another hound trying unsuccessfully to sneak behind Zoe. I raced towards it and thrust Anaklusmos into its back.

The last two hounds - probably the smartest of them all, if that could even be considered a compliment - fled into the forest. Neither of them got very far.

I turned my attention to the last dracaena. It had grabbed the black sword - apparently Erebus's new symbol of power. "You fought well, little demigodsssss," it hissed menacingly. "But you shall die now!"

I almost wanted to laugh at the sight of the snake-woman trying to handle the massive blade.

"How dare you laugh at Lord Erebusssss'sssss sssssymbol of power! I will sssssmite you with thisssss blade!"

The dracaena swung the black sword at me in a wide arc. I brought up Anaklusmos the block the strike. Then I heard a deafening sound of something shattering. I looked up, expecting to see my sword in pieces, destroyed by the symbol of power. Instead, I saw the dracaena cowering from me. The black sword was in several pieces on the ground. What just happened?

"You-you broke -" it stuttered.

In an instant, I had my sword at its throat. "Go ahead. Go back to your 'Lord Erebus'. Tell him I destroyed his symbol of power. Run away like a coward."

"Y-yes- "

I released it and kicked it away from me. The monster scuttled away. At the edge of the clearing, it seemed to have recovered some confidence, because it turned around and hissed, "Thisssss isssssn't over. Lord Erebusssss will have hisssss revenge."

"Just leave before I decide to kill you." I warned, lifting up my sword for emphasis.

The dracaena turned tail and fled.

"Was that really necessary?"

Zoe had come up behind me.

"Thou should've just killed it. Now it's going to report back to its master."

"Honestly, no. But it was fun to watch it squirm."

"Sometimes, I wonder why I travel with thee."

"As Apollo and Artemis would put it, I'm so quote unquote 'awesome'."

I realized I shouldn't have said ' _Artemis_ ', but it was too late to retract my words. Zoe was instantly lost in her thoughts and memories.

"It's been so long since I last saw her..." Zoe had a faraway look in her eyes. "Now she is gone, in Tartarus, and there is no way I can free her...I wonder if some of my sisters are still alive today..." A single tear trickled down her cheek.

I couldn't help myself. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. She stiffened, and I realized what I'd just done. I sprang back, mentally counting how many appendages I had. Good, I still retained all six including my manhood. "Sorry," I muttered. Thankfully, she made no further comment.

Zoe shook herself out of her reverie. "Anyways. I had ten kills, try to beat that."

"Ten kills as well."

She gritted her teeth in frustration. "And I suppose thou want extra points for destroying that sword. Stupid males."

"Who's idea was it to make this fight a competition?"

"Well, thou were the one who brought it up!"

"It was just a friendly contest. Nothing to get so worked up about."

She didn't reply.

"So...are we gonna stay here all day and wait for Erebus's reinforcements to come slaughter us, or are we gonna keep moving?"

"Wait - I need to retrieve my arrows first."

"Why?"

"Because, Perseus, now that the Gods have been dethroned, my quiver given to me by-by milady no longer replenishes itself. I cannot afford to lose even a single arrow now. Having a weapon is the difference between life and death."

"Oh."

I waited for Zoe to grab all ten of her arrows.

"You said that having a weapon is the difference between life and death. Well, a bow is a weapon. So through your logic, shouldn't having only a bow without any arrows be enough to survive?" I smirked.

Zoe muttered something about "stupid boys" under her breath.

We walked through the clearing and into the forest beyond.

* * *

 _(3rd Person)_

Trembling, the lone dracaena slithered up to the doors to the throne room. It pushed open the doors and stopped in its tracks.

Erebus was lying on top of Nyx in the middle of the floor, their lips passionately locked together. Both of them were nearly topless, their shirts hitched up to their necks.

"Um- m-milord -"

The couple immediately froze. In the flash, Erebus had pinned the dracaena to the wall and had a sword to its neck.

"HOW DARE YOU ENTER THIS ROOM WITHOUT PERMISSION!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry milord! I-I have important information! Please spare me, milord! Please!" The dracaena was squeaking. It was so scared, it wasn't even hissing like it normally did.

"WELL TELL ME!"

"We...wewereattackedbytwodemigodsandyoursymbolofpowerwasdestroyednowpleasesparemepleaseitwasn'tmyfaultplease."

"SAY IT SLOWLY AND CLEARLY!"

The dracaena hesitated for a second, trembling. "We were attacked by two demigods and your symbol of power was destroyed. Please, it wasn't my fault! Spare me please!" It was so scared it couldn't hiss.

"WHAT?! MY SYMBOL OF POWER WAS DESTROYED?! HOW DARE YOU!" The primordial stabbed the blade into the dracaena's throat so hard that it cracked the obsidian wall behind it. Instead of disintegrating into golden dust, the monster dissolved into an inky black fog that slowly dissipated. Now it was permanently dead; it couldn't reform.

Nyx laid a hand on his shoulder which seemed to calm Erebus down a little.

"Tartarus!" he called.

Five seconds passed with nothing happening.

"Tartarus!" he called again.

Again, nothing happened.

"TARTARUS! GET YOUR LAZY, USELESS SELF OVER HERE OR ELSE I'LL FIND YOU AND SLICE YOU UP INTO A MILLION PIECES AND CAST YOU INTO THE ABYSS OF CHAOS!"

The primordial flashed in with a smirk.

"I CALLED YOU THREE TIMES YOU LITTLE SON OF A B -"

"Language!"

"Sorry, my dear."

Erebus turned back to Tartarus. "NOW GO DO SOMETHING USEFUL AND SEND YOUR MONSTERS TO CAPTURE THE TWO DEMIGODS AND BRING THEM TO ME IN CHAINS! I WILL SEE THEM EXECUTED FOR DESTROYING MY NEW SYMBOL OF POWER!"

Tartarus gave him an insolent smile. "What two demigods again? I forgot."

Erebus growled. His brother was really giving him a hard time. He reminded himself to execute him sometime later. "The two demigods who destroyed -"

"It's okay, I know. I was watching the whole thing from behind my throne over there, masking my aura so you wouldn't notice me. I I was there from the start, when the two of you came into the throne room to - how should I put it - have fun with each other. Although I must say, your wife has a really sexy -"

Erebus gripped his sword so hard the blade shattered like glass. "YOU SNEAKY PERVERT! NOW GET OUT MY SIGHT NOW! YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS! FIVE, FOUR -"

Tartarus grinned and flashed out.

"That _brother_ of mine has been getting on my nerve lately," Erebus hissed. "Who does he even think he is?"

"Enough, my love," Nyx soothed him. "Now, shall we get on to what we were doing before we were interrupted?"

* * *

 _(Percy)_

Zoe and I walked through the forest in silence. We hadn't spoken a word since we left the last clearing half an hour ago.

As I stumbled along, my mind began to wander. I saw the faces of my family, of my mom and Paul. They'd given birth to a mortal child just before the Great War began. They named her Andromeda. They had planned out the rest of their lives together, but cruel fate ripped it away from them. They all died in the war, lost in the records among the other "innocent casualties". The apartment I'd grown up in, reduced to rubble. I choked back a sob as I remembered my mom's blue food; the way she always believed in me even when I kept failing my classes; the way her eyes would sparkle when she looked at me...

"Fond memories?" Zoe asked. I snapped out of my reminiscence.

"No, just thoughts," I replied.

"For once, Perseus, thou are actually _thinking_? That's a surprise." Zoe teased.

"Hey!" I protested. "I'm dumb, but I'm not _that_ dumb!"

"Keep saying that, and one day it might even come true."

I decided not to go on. "And you?"

Zoe's eyes became unfocused. Her lip started to tremble a little.

"It all seems so long ago...the wars, the Hunt, everything. But I remember it all so clearly, so vividly, it's almost like all 2,000 years of my life happened yesterday. I remember all the fond times we had in the Hunt, racing through the forest and felling monsters from afar. I remember all my sisters, the times we had together before the end. I remember Lady Artemis..." Her voice trailed off. "All those fond times, torn away from me forever..." She seemed to be holding back tears.

"Thalia once told me that you were the closest to a friend that Lady Artemis ever had," I said quietly.

She nodded absent-mindedly, lost in her own thoughts. Her fingers brushed against my hand. My skin seemed to tingle where she'd touched me.

I cleared my throat uncomfortably. "Um...so what do we do now? Just keep wandering aimlessly around the continent until we get mauled by monsters and left for dead?"

Zoe managed to form a smirk. "I'm surprised that thou know all those words, Perseus. I thought 'aimlessly' and 'continent' were beyond thy level of intelligence. And to answer thy question, I do not know. Maybe we'll just continue wandering around as thou said, finding other female demigods if there are any left at all."

"I see you specified 'female' demigods?"

"Of course! Why would I want another male? One semi-tolerable boy is more than enough. I wouldn't be able to survive with two or more. They would be lazy and useless and wouldn't contribute anything. Women, on the other hand, I can live with. They'd actually be productive and diligent."

"Did you call me 'semi-tolerable'?" I laughed.

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't push thy luck, boy."

"So basically, you want to start up the Hunt again."

Zoe swallowed, trying to suppress the flood of memories. "It wouldn't exactly be the Hunt, considering that there would be one male in the group. Unless we kicked thee out...yes, that might work..."

We chuckled.

Suddenly, we heard a growl. We immediately fell silent. Twenty feet in front of us stood at least fifty hellhounds, around thirty dracanae and empousai, and eight Laistrygonian Giants. A figure cloaked in black stood in front of them.

"Halt!" The figure commanded. "Lord Erebus demands your presence before his throne, for destroying his sacred symbol of power." His voice was so distorted it didn't even sound human - and maybe he wasn't - but something about it seemed vaguely familiar.

I stepped forward. "Well then, go back to him and tell him to shove his sword up his rear. We're not coming with you."

The figure growled. "Surrender or die!"

"We'd prefer neither, if thou don't mind," Zoe retorted.

The figure screamed. "I've had enough of you. Attack!" He stepped aside and gesticulated wildly at the monsters.

The small army surged forward. I charged in to meet them.

We clashed. I became a whirlwind, striking left and right. I vaporized a hellhound and spun around in a fluid motion to decapitate an empousa. I leaped onto the back of a giant and stabbed it repeatedly in the back of the neck, before sliding off and slicing it in the groin. As the giant disintegrated, roaring in outrage and pain, I spun 360 degrees, disemboweling two hounds and a dracaena. All around me, arrows were flying through the air, monsters evaporating upon contact. I took one look towards the figure standing on the sidelines. He was seething in frustration and fury.

That was when everything went wrong. Of course, when I was at the top of my game, I had to fail.

Distracted for one second from the battle, I didn't notice the Laistrygonian Giant that had gotten too close. I didn't notice the massive fist. The next thing I knew, I was soaring through the air like a projectile. I collided with a tree and fell to the ground in a heap. My shoulder felt like it was on fire. I saw a hellhound spring at me out of the corner of my eye. I raised Anaklusmos weakly and thrust it towards the hound. It hit the monster, but not before its claws raked my unprotected stomach. I saw blood flowing down my side. I looked up to see the hooded figure stalking towards me.

"No!" I heard Zoe yell. An arrow flew by him, but he leaned to the side and it hurtled past him harmlessly. The figure laughed. "So this is how the mighty Hero of Olympus ends. Crumpled up in a heap at the base of a tree, too weak to keep fighting." The figure pulled out a black sword, an exact miniature of the symbol of power that I'd destroyed. As he raised the sword above my chest, as I closed my eyes...

* * *

 _I was in the midst of the fray. I weaved among the monsters, carving a crooked path paved with golden dust. I charged a rogue Cyclops, dispatching it in the matter of seconds. I vaulted over an empousa and stabbed it through its skull while it was looking around, bewildered, for its target. I hurled my sword like a boomerang, skewering three hellhounds with its blade. I climbed onto the back of a Laistrygonian Giant, waiting for my sword to return to my pocket, and decapitated it._

 _I was a storm of destruction, annihilating every monster that came near me. Oh, am I using words that are too long? Sorry. Anyways, moving on._

 _Thalia and Nico were beside me, fighting just as hard. Thalia was holding monsters at bay with her fear-radiating shield, electrocuting any monster that came within ten feet of her. Nico was battling fiercely, shadow-traveling behind monsters and decapitating them in their states of confusion._

 _We felt like we were at the top of the world. We felt invincible. Like nothing could stop us._

 _Then I was flying._

 _I hadn't noticed the Earthborn giant. I hadn't seen the boulder flying through the air until a fraction of a second before it hit me, too late for me to move. I was dashed into the ground. Blood was oozing from a massive wound in my stomach. I felt like every bone in my rib cage was splintered._

 _A grinning dracaena sauntered up to my battered, barely conscious body. It raised its sword high above its head and plunged it downward towards my chest. I knew it was futile to try and escape. But I never felt the killing blow._

 _I heard a scream, a blurry shape leaping through the air. The dracaena stumbled and fell as a human-sized projectile crashed into it. I saw blood that wasn't mine. I saw Thalia's body on the ground next to a heap of monster essence, a sword through her midsection._

 _I barely heard Nico crying out for the medics. My vision was becoming blurry. I was slipping in and out of consciousness..._

* * *

I closed my eyes, waiting for the killing blow that never came. I heard a scream, a blurry shape leaping through the air. The hooded figure stumbled and fell as a human-sized projectile crashed into it. I saw blood that wasn't mine.

All around me, monsters were falling back. Someone or something was attacking them. My vision was becoming blurry, but I thought I saw a tall, blond person stride up to me.

No, he was dead since the end of the Titan War.

But then again, Zoe had been dead, and she was here with me.

Could it be?

My mind went blank and I blacked out.

* * *

 **Third chapter! I was working on this chapter on and off. Sorry if Percy's OOC... do you think his vocabulary's too big for him? Just saying, I don't normally swear.**

 **I'll try and see if I can make the chapters longer in the future. I'm hoping I can hit 100K words someday, although that's probably too high of an expectation for a story with a decisive ending, as opposed to open ended stories like the ones about a Guardian of the Hunt.**

 **I'm currently planning on Percy and Zoe eventually falling in love, but not right away.** **Also, I'm considering whether or not I should revive Annabeth later in the story. What's your opinion on that?**

 **To everyone who likes Thalia: sorry about that whole flashback scene :/**

 **As always, please leave reviews! :)**

 **\- XxShadowOfTheFuturexX**


	4. IV

**So yeah, new chapter. I'm now putting some ANs in the beginning of the chapters, in the hopes that they'll be more visible and people will read them :P.** **The beginning of the chapter is Percy's dream. Do you think this story's becoming too dark? Please tell me. Please leave reviews, the longer the better :)**

 **Also: do you think I should change the rating to M, because of all the violence and the overall tone? Just wondering.**

* * *

 _Could it be?_

 _My mind went blank and I blacked out._

* * *

 _I was standing in a dark, empty chamber. In front of me, I could barely make out a row of huge thrones. The air felt cold and heavy. There was something inherently evil about this place, a quality that I couldn't place my finger on but that I knew was there. I needed to get out of here._

 _Suddenly, a booming laugh rang out. I was thrown backwards. The back of my head smashed into something hard. I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the stabbing pain in my skull and the blood beginning to pool on the ground behind me._

 _"You cannot escape me, puny demigod," the voice hissed. A chill ran up my spine with every word._

 _"Submit to the darkness. Bow down to me, and you will be spared. I will forgive you the crime of destroying my symbol of power. Join me. Together we shall achieve greatness."_

 _Fear and dread seized my mind. I was frozen in place, unable to think._

 _"Answer me!" The room shook. Bits of stone fell from the ceiling high above. I lost my balance and fell to the ground. An evil laugh resonated through the room, seeming to come from every direction._

 _I got to my feet, trembling. "No," I heard myself say. "I will not stand by the one who had my dearest friends slaughtered, the one who destroyed my family!"_

 _The chamber rumbled with laughter. "You are bold, little demigod," the voice hissed with grudging admiration. "But you are also a fool. You cannot and will not keep running forever. I am all around you. I see everything. I influence everything. I am the physical darkness, but I am more. I am the darkness in your heart, the voice in the back of your head that drives you along the path of self-destruction. I am the one who destroyed every hero in the end: Heracles, Jason, Theseus, Achilles, Daedelus. I am all-powerful._

 _"Join me, and you shall become the most powerful man on this earth, second only to me. But defy me, and you and everyone you care about will be destroyed. This is my final warning to you. Heed it wisely."_

 _With great effort, I raised my head high. "I have considered your 'warning'. My answer remains the same. Besides, 'most powerful man in the world' doesn't really mean much if I'm the_ only _man in the world, does it?"_

 _The voice roared in outrage. "YOU INSOLENT PEST! YOU'VE BEEN A THORN IN MY SIDE FOR LONG ENOUGH! NOW, YOU SHALL FEEL THE TRUE POWER OF DARKNESS!"_

 _A searing pain erupted in my head. Memories flashed through my mind, so fast I couldn't identify them before they were lost in a distance. The pain was worse than anything else I'd ever experienced in my life. I curled up into a ball on the ground. I just wanted it to end. Anything was better than enduring this pain, even death. I wanted to die... anything... anything... just make it go away... anything..._

 _Then suddenly, it stopped. I lay there in a ball, tears pouring from my eyes. I didn't even realize that I wasn't standing in the room anymore, until I looked up._

* * *

 _I was on a hill, next to a pine tree. Before me was a meandering country road and level farmland. I turned; behind me was a large farmhouse and a half-mile of strawberry fields. In a distance, I could slightly make out the familiar cabins._

 _I realized where I was - Camp Halfblood, my old home._

 _And it was in danger._

 _Behind the road, stretching as far as the eye could see, was a seething, writhing mass of black. From my viewpoint, I could hear growling, snarling, and hissing; the clashing of swords; people crying out for friends, siblings, lovers._

 _There were simply too many monsters. In the early stages of the war, when it was still either side's victory, we'd had a huge influx of campers. The gods claimed that they were trying to help their children stay out of danger, by sending them to the one safe haven they had. But we all knew the ulterior motive. The gods simply needed more soldiers to fight for them._

 _Their plan had backfired. Sending in more campers didn't ensure victory. If anything, it meant the opposite. Thrust into battle before they could train, learn, and build up their strength, they fell like wooden walls against a tsunami. More soldiers meant more resources and medical supplies expended. The inexperienced demigods were a burden, constantly getting in the way and hampering war efforts._

 _I didn't want to watch the carnage. The bodies lying motionless, swords impaled through their chests and necks. In the heat of battle, there was no time to collect the bodies. No time to burn the shrouds of those who fell. Most of the corpses rotted away on the battlefield. Vultures constantly circled overhead._

 _But for some reason, I couldn't turn my head away. I was transfixed. I heard a piercing scream from somewhere to the left. A young girl was cradling her brother's dying body. I watched in horror as a dracaena snuck up behind her and rammed a sword through her back. The girl was dead before she hit the ground. She couldn't have been more than 10 years old._

 _Tears welled up in my eyes. "Why are you showing me this?!" I screamed. As if to answer me, a booming laugh echoed all around me. The ground opened up beneath my feet and I was falling... falling... falling..._

* * *

 _Now I was in the midst of the fray. I saw my friends struggling, fighting back against the ceaseless dark wave._

 _I saw Jason, stabbed to death by a dracaena's sword. Piper, a smile on her face as Greek fire enveloped her and every monster within twenty feet, just seconds later. I saw Frank and Hazel whispering goodbyes and I-love-you's as they lay in each other's arms in their fleeting final moments._

 _Thalia as she sacrificed her own life to save mine. Nico, still alive, limping back towards the infirmary. Grover fending monster after monster from Juniper, growing weaker and weaker. Clarisse going down in fury, taking twenty monsters with her as she fell. Travis tightly hugging Connor's unmoving body, tears streaming from his face. Reyna circling above the fight on her pegasus, bleeding from several wounds and clearly at the last of her strength._

 _The memories flashed by, instantly replaced by another as soon as one vanished. I clenched my fists in pain and rage. I should've helped them. I should've been the one who died in their place. I could've saved them._

 _Then the flow of memories stopped at one memory in particular._

 _I stood by the remnants of the Olympian army at the crest of Halfblood Hill. Once more than 50,000 strong, we were reduced to less than 500 able soldiers. Tens of thousands wounded or killed. There was nobody in the army who hadn't lost someone. A brother, a sister, a cousin, a friend. And still, we hadn't made a sizable dent in the monster army. For every monster slain, two more appeared in its place._

 _Annabeth came up to me._

 _"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she forced a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes._

 _"Hey, Wise Girl," I replied._

 _We were silent for awhile. I looked out over the field beneath us. There didn't seem to be a difference in the size of the monster army. If anything, there seemed to be more monsters than when we'd began fighting._

 _"We can't keep fighting like this," She finally broke the silence. "We've already lost so many of our own. We're not gonna make it."_

 _Together, we looked out at the slowly advancing army._

 _Annabeth took a deep breath. She seemed to be mentally debating with herself about something. Her stormy, gray eyes looked like they were moving millions of miles a second, the way they did when she was thinking hard about something._

 _After a long pause, she spoke. Her voice was heavy._

 _"We've let too many of our own soldiers down. They've sacrificed everything to protect Camp. We all know this is a battle we can't hope to win."_

 _I didn't understand what she was getting at. "What do you mean?" I asked._

 _Her next words chilled me to the bone. "Retreat to Olympus. Bring our troops with you. I'll hold the monsters off and secure your retreat."_

 _I felt numb inside. "No," I whispered. "I can't let you do this."_

 _She shook her head. "It's the only way," she murmured back._

 _"No..." I refused to accept this. My girlfriend, the one I loved, was telling me that she intended to die defending camp all by herself. "I can't... there has to be another option... You lead the army. I'll die defending you..."_

 _"There isn't another option," she said gently. "You're too valuable to them. They see you as a source of inspiration. If you were lost, they'd lose hope."_

 _The army of monsters was marching closer. Now, they were less than a quarter mile from the base of the hill. The leaders were licking their lips, eager for a taste of demigod blood._

 _Annabeth drew me close and kissed me. "Trust me," she whispered. "We'll be together again in Elysium. We'll live happily together, forever..."_

 _I tried not to cry. "Goodbye, Wise Girl," I murmured._

 _"Goodbye, Seaweed Brain," she murmured back._

 _"Soldiers! We retreat to Olympus!" I shouted._

 _As we fled the ruined camp, I looked back, a river of tears streaking down my face. With her drakon-bone sword, Annabeth was battling the entire army alone. Her weapon flashed through the air. Her face was a mask of calmness and determination._

 _That was the last glimpse I ever had of her, dead or alive. We burned her shroud later in the evening. We never recovered her body._

* * *

 _The world around me disintegrated, and I was standing back in that dark room._

 _"You see, little demigod?" the evil voice chuckled malevolently. "That was but a taste of my real power. I can tear you apart, bit by bit, through the darkness inside you. It is foolish to stand against me!"_

 _I looked up, staring straight at where I thought the voice was coming from. Reliving the plights of my friends had filled me with determination. I would not let their legacies go to waste._

 _"No!" I shouted. "You shall never have me!"_

 _"YOU DARE..." the voice thundered. "YOU THINK YOU ARE SAFE FROM ME?! THAT I AM A FIGMENT OF YOUR IMAGINATION AS YOU SLEEP?!" The voice shrank to a hissing whisper. "Have you ever heard of dying in a dream? It has happened before, and it shall now happen again!"_

 _A searing pain erupted in my forehead. I grabbed the sides of my head. My hands came away, covered with blood. The pain tripled and spread through my entire body. Pure pain coursed through my veins. I fell to the ground, too weak to stand back up. My vision grew dark._

* * *

 _Then as suddenly as it had began, the pain stopped. I looked up._

 _I was no longer in the dark throne-filled room. I was standing in a bright courtyard. Before me, two figures appeared: a man and a woman. I instinctively backed up in fear, sensing the powerful aura surrounding them. But their aura was different from the aura surrounding the disembodied voice. The voice had radiated darkness and pure evil. These figures seemed to give off light and warmth._

 _"Who... who are you?" I asked._

 _"Our identities are not yours to know yet," the man responded. "All you need to know is that we are very old."_

 _"So... you're immortals then?"_

 _"Hush, child," the woman said. "We were able to rescue you before Erebus could kill you, but he was still able to cause harm."_

 _"Oh."_

 _The man sighed. "Now that you're here, there's something you need to know. Erebus knows how powerful and valuable you are. He knows that you have the power to undermine his reign. Since you won't join him, he will stop at nothing to destroy you."_

 _"Wait, wait, wait! How would I have the power to overthrow a Primordial? I'm not even immortal!"_

 _"There is immense power within you. You must realize it for yourself. There is more that you should know, but I can't tell you."_

 _"But - but -"_

 _"It is time for us to leave. Your friends are worrying about you."_

 _"No, wait -"_

 _The figures dissolved into inky blackness, and I slept a dreamless sleep._

* * *

 _(Zoe)_

"His wounds seem to be healing pretty fast, and he's sleeping normally now. With some more ambrosia and time, he'll probably wake up soon."

I leaned over the unconscious body of my friend.

 _Please... let him be okay..._ I silently prayed to whatever benevolent divine force was listening, if there still was one.

* * *

 **Another chapter down. What do you think? Good so far? Need improvement?**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **\- XxShadowOfTheFuturexX**


	5. V

**I decided to start off this chapter with a different but related storyline that's taking place at the same time as Percy's and Zoe's.**

 **As always, please read and review :) Any feedback is greatly appreciated.**

 **[Insert obligatory "I don't own any PJO characters" statement here]**

* * *

 _I leaned over the unconscious body of my friend._

 _Please... let him be okay... I silently prayed to whatever benevolent divine force was listening, if there still was one._

* * *

 _(Poseidon)_

Pain. So much pain. Pain seemed to course through my whole body like ichor. In that moment, I realized that never before in my entire life had I experienced true pain such as this.

It was too much. I'd never thought I'd see the day when I'd ever _want_ to fade. But this was too much. All I wanted was to fade, to have it all end as peacefully as falling asleep.

* * *

 _I was standing in the throne room of Olympus, trident in hand, in full battle regalia. Alongside me were the other Olympians, surrounded by hundreds of minor gods, many of them so obscure that most mortals didn't even know they existed. Zeus and Hades stood on my left, side-by-side. Athena stood on my right, with Ares next to her. Hera, Hephaestus, Apollo, and Artemis stood close by each other. Deep-rooted grudges had been thrown aside and forgotten. Today, we fought together as one. Today, we made our last stand._

 _None of us wanted to admit it, but we all knew what the outcome of the war would be. With every battle, we'd been steadily driven back towards Olympus. We'd suffered crushing defeat after crushing defeat. We'd lost so much territory. The forces of the Protogenoi were too powerful. There was no god or goddess, except for the maiden ones, who hadn't lost at least half of their cabin. Even Artemis only had five huntresses left._

 _Far below, we could hear the sounds of battle. The roars of a thousand monsters. The anguished cries of demigods weeping for their fallen comrades. The screams of terror and pain. We were forced to listen to our children die defending us, and could do nothing but wait for the inevitable._

 _Suddenly, Hephaestus's face became grim. "Our time has come," he said softly._

 _There was a deafening crash from within the elevator shaft. We saw the Celestial bronze doors buckle and shatter as if they were made of glass. Amidst the wreckage stood six tall figures in full armor. Power rolled off of them in waves._

 _Zeus gripped his Master Bolt so hard his knuckles turned white. His arms were shaking. "Y-you dare to attack us!" He yelled, trying to sound imposing, but coming out more like a terrified squeak._

 _The leader of the six laughed mockingly and raised his sword. Everything happened too fast for me to comprehend. The next instant, Zeus lay spread-eagled on the ground in a growing pool of ichor, his master bolt in five fragments next to him._

 _Hera and Athena screamed and rushed at him. But they hadn't gone five steps before they were blasted backwards. Their heads smashed into the wall with sickening crunches. Their bodies slid down the walls, leaving ghastly trails of ichor, and they lay motionless upon the floor. Their once-thought-unbreakable symbols of power were in pieces._

 _Three of us lay incapacitated on the floor of our own throne room. This was too much for us. We charged at the six Protogenoi, weapons leveled._

 _Within ten seconds, all of us were collapsed on the floor, bleeding out._

 _The grinning leader looked over to the still-conscious body of Zeus, who was now trying in vain to crawl away. With one stride, the Protogenos reached him. He planted one foot on Zeus's chest, preventing him from moving. In one swift, fluid motion, he raised his sword above his head and brought it down onto the fallen king's chest. Ichor sprayed out of the wound with the force of a fire hose, several drops landing on his killer's lips. The Protogenos licked the godly blood off his lips with disgusting relish._

 _Zeus gave a piercing scream, a cry that was silenced immediately as the Protogenos brought his blade down once again, this time at his neck. We all watched, transfixed with sick fascination, as he slowly sliced open Zeus's throat. Ichor gushed out of the fatal wound, coating the murderer with a liquid covering of golden liquid. Our king made one last strangled, gurgling sound, attempting to raise his head one final time. Then his entire head lolled back and rolled away into a nearby puddle of godly blood._

 _At the sight of her husband being decapitated, Hera screamed. Despite the four gaping holes in her stomach, she struggled to her feet, only to fall backwards once again. The Protogenoi chortled and snickered. One of them snapped their fingers; a second later, Hera was smashed into the wall again. This time, she never regained consciousness._

 _The lead Protogenos picked up Zeus's head and stuck it on the end of his sword with a sickening squelch. He turned to the rest of us, a sadistic, grotesque smirk on his face._

 _"So this is the mighty Olympian army," he mocked. "Reduced down to groveling weaklings!"_

 _"Let me have the honor of humbly introducing myself and my companions to the great, powerful gods of Olympus," he continued. "I believe you may have already met Gaea and Tartarus. My other friends here are Ouranos, Pontus, and my wife, Nyx."_

 _He gestured to himself. "And I am Erebus, Primordial of darkness!"_

 _He held up his sword high, the head of Zeus still stuck on the end of the blade. "All hail Zeus, mighty king of Olympus! Pay your respects to your great leader!"_

 _I looked away in revulsion._

 _From our midst, I heard the voice of Ares. "Please, just end it now," he croaked. "Don't torture us any more. Grant us the mercy of fading quickly."_

 _The words had barely left his mouth before he was violently blasted upwards. He hit the ceiling with a loud crash, and fell back to the ground in a heap. One of the other Protogenoi - I thought it might've been Ouranos - was smirking._

 _Erebus laughed, an evil, inhuman laugh that rattled the room. "How entertaining! The God of War, begging for mercy. But no, you will never have the privilege of simply fading. You shall all be thrown down into Tartarus to suffer for eternity! Unless you want to swear loyalty to me?"_

 _Some of the minor gods swayed hesitantly, but nobody replied._

 _Erebus shook his head in mock sadness. "Very well. Since you will not join me, you shall be destroyed!"_

 _An extremely powerful aura surrounded the six Protogenoi. In unison, they raised their weapons above their heads and pointed them directly at the huddled gods. Six blasts of pure darkness shot out of the blades of six swords._

 _Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Memories from my entire life flashed before my eyes; ancient memories and recent memories, fond memories and terrible memories. I relived every mistake and blunder I'd made, every life I'd taken, every calamity I'd caused. In my final moments on Earth, I realized how flawed we gods truly were._

 _Then there was an ear-rending explosion. I felt like I was being pulled apart, limb by limb. My vision went dark._

* * *

I was lying on a cold stone floor. I felt like a hundred burning swords were being stabbed into my body. Ichor was oozing from multiple deep cuts and wounds. I took a deep breath, and gasped as my ribs cracked and my lungs burned. My eyes became watery.

I lay there for a long time, blankly staring at the ceiling, refusing to look around, refusing to accept my fate.

Then the realisation of what had happened hit me full force. The Olympians had been defeated, our army slaughtered. Zeus himself had been beheaded. I, Poseidon, the Earthshaker, mighty God of the Seas, was lying bloodied and beaten in a cell in the pit of Tartarus.

With that, the tears really began to fall. I sobbed for my lost home under the seas, for my lost family, for everything I'd ever lost. Tears trickled down my face and pooled on the ground. Within moments, I was sopping wet.

I didn't hear the door being thrust open. I didn't notice the intruder in my cell until I was violently smashed on the head with a metal bar.

I woke up chained to a wall, suspended over a huge vat of water. Before me was a vast stone room. The air was cold and stale, as if I was the first to enter it in centuries.

"So the prisoner is awake!" a voice hissed. The air in the center of the room rippled and shimmered, and after a few seconds, a figure materialized.

I recognized him immediately. My longtime enemy. The one who had laid waste to my palace years ago.

"Oceanus," I growled.

The Titan laughed. "Ah, so the great sea god remembers me! Such an honor, honored I am..." He bowed mockingly.

I snarled under my breath. "Enough with the mockery, Titan," I spat. "What do you want?"

Oceanus smirked. "Why, nothing more than seeing you suffer for eternity! Lord Erebus has personally bestowed upon me the privilege of being your torturer for the next hundred years."

He waved his hand dismissively. "But enough talk. We'll get right to it, shall we? Let's begin with seeing how long it takes for a sea god to drown!"

I looked down at the vat of water below, and panic seized me. I tried to reassure myself. _I am the sea,_ I told myself. _I control the waters. They cannot destroy me._ I chanted it to myself, repeating it over and over like some sort of mantra.

But the water ... it was dark, thick, oily. Corrupted. Evil. I called to the vestiges of my power. The water wouldn't respond to me.

Grinning, Oceanus stalked over to me. With one fluid motion of his sword, he sliced through my chains. I fell downwards, towards the polluted liquid.

The murky water pulled me to the bottom. Burning pain covered every inch of my skin. Instead of healing my wounds, the water opened them even more. I tried to breathe, and then retched as the noxious liquid seared my lungs. The water tasted sickly sweet and boiled my tongue. I began to struggle, but the more I thrashed around, the worse the pain got.

I knew that I was going to die, that the eternal blackness of the void would surround my body. But just as I thought I couldn't hold out any longer, Oceanus yanked me out of the vat. I coughed and spluttered, spitting toxic water out of my system.

Before I could react, the Titan forced my mouth open and shoved something down my throat. I could feel my injuries beginning to heal, my pain beginning to subside. But I didn't even have the time to breath a sigh of relief before I found myself back in the vat of dark water, wounds reopening, searing pain once again pervading me.

By the tenth dunking, my injuries refused to heal at all. Oceanus regarded me contemptuously.

"Behold, a great Olympian god, lying in a heap after merely being splashed with water," he mocked. "Such a shame. I suppose we'll have to continue on tomorrow."

A few monsters dragged me away and threw me back into my cell. I vaguely heard the cell doors slamming shut, once again leaving me to stare blankly up at the ceiling.

* * *

I lost track of time. I forgot how long I had been imprisoned in the pit - maybe days? months? _centuries_? Every day simply sank away into monotony. I'd tried to keep a record, but it hadn't been updated in a long time.

Every day, a guard would come to fetch me from my cell and bring me to Oceanus. My ordeals changed from day to day, alternating between different forms of torture. Sometimes, I was put in the sickly water and nearly drowned. Other times, I was blasted with 10 trillion volts; had my limbs slowly burned off with molten bronze and regenerated; was stabbed in a thousand places with burning needles. Still other times, it was psychological torture: I heard echoing screams and cries of agony; felt cold blades slowly rubbing against my skin; saw visions of my loved ones being viciously slaughtered.

Oceanus always found some horrific way to inflict pain. I'd always known that he was sadistic, but never before had I truly realized the full depth of his morbid mind.

In the early days, I rebelled. I struggled against Oceanus and his tortures. I attempted to bribe the guards into setting me free. I tried to communicate with the adjoining cells, hoping that one of my fellow Olympians was imprisoned in one. I racked my mind for anything that could help me escape. All my efforts were fruitless. I achieved nothing but more pain and exhaustion.

In the end, I simply gave up. I stopped fighting back. I lost the will to live. I prayed to the Fates, to Chaos himself, that it would all stop, that I could fade away quickly and painlessly. My prayers were never answered. I became a shell of who I once was, dead in everything but biology.

But one day, something changed.

The guards had just come to take me to my daily torture session. I made no resistance as they grabbed me by the arms and dragged my limp body out of the cell.

Then suddenly, one of the guards screamed. He collapsed to the ground, crimson blood beginning to pool next to him, an arrow sticking out of his neck.

The other guards scrambled for their weapons, but they were too slow. Arrows were flashing through the air, limp bodies falling, coating the ground in red. Within seconds, only one guard was still standing. The sole survivor dropped his sword and raced down the corridor. An instant before an arrow found his throat, he threw himself against the wall.

A screeching siren split the air. All around me, I heard the drawing of weapons, the clank of metal on metal. The guard must've triggered some sort of alarm.

But I didn't have any time to dwell on those thoughts before I was yanked up onto my feet. I was pulled down the corridor and deposited in the shadows around the corner.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" I demanded, my voice hoarse and grating from not speaking normally in such a long time.

A hand clamped over my mouth. "Shut up, you fool," a vaguely familiar feminine voice hissed in my ear. "You'll get us all killed!"

Another voice that I recognized slightly, spoke. "Oh, come on, Uncle P's just a bit dazed and surprised, go easy on him for once!"

Four people, two female and two male, were regarding me. I searched my mind, trying to grasp the names that were just on the tip or my tongue.

Then, the names popped into my mind.

"Hades? Apollo, Artemis? _Athena_?"

One of the females laughed contemptuously. "Well, congratulations on guessing right! Do you want a medal for your superior intelligence?"

"Enough, Athena," one of the men commanded, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Now is not the time for petty grudges. Our main concern should be getting my brother out of this place without getting caught."

"I still don't see why we needed to free _him_ of all people..." Athena muttered under her breath, but she fell silent upon seeing Hades's warning glare.

The other man, who with my superior intelligence I decided was Apollo, spoke up. "So we've broken into this prison, and we've got Uncle P. Now what, oh goddess of wisdom?"

Artemis replied matter-of-factly, "Now, we retrace our steps and sneak out of this place undetected."

"Easier said than done, especially now that we have Kelp-For-Brains with us," Athena said. "The alarm's been sprung. They know we're here."

"So much for sneaking out undetected," I commented.

A party of assorted guards and monsters thundered around the corner. The leader shouted triumphantly, "We've found them!" His victorious cry was cut short by an arrow to his vocal cords. The other guards brandished their weapons, and the monsters growled and charged at us.

Apollo and Artemis fired volley after volley of arrows into the small group. Athena skewered monsters and guards with her spear, striking fear into their hearts with her Aegis. Hades vanished like a shadow with his Helm of Darkness, reappearing in the midst of the fray, surprising and killing the enemies. The stone floor was soon covered in a disgusting mixture of monster dust and blood.

In the lull that followed, we rushed down a hallway filled with cells and into a dark room. We crouched in a corner, breathing heavily.

"Why don't we just, you know, flash out?" I inquired curiously.

Athena looked at me like I'd sprouted an extra head.

"In Tartarus, our godly powers don't work very well," she explained slowly, as if to a five-year-old. "For example, you can't summon water, and Hades can't bring forth armies of the dead. Flashing out unfortunately requires our true forms, which count as godly powers. Natural abilities remain, and magical items retain their properties, which means that Apollo and Artemis are still exceptional archers and Hades can still use his Helm."

"Oh."

The Goddess of Wisdom rolled her eyes at my response.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over us. We immediately looked up.

"Well, well, well," The figure of Oceanus towered over us, surrounded by an army of monsters. "The naughty child has left his room. No matter, you'll be wishing you were back in your cell by the time I'm done with you!"

I scanned our surroundings. As soon as I looked around, I felt nauseous. I recognized this room very well. How wouldn't I, after the months of agony I endured in it?

But I saw something that gave me hope. On the far side of my room hung a glowing trident. _My_ trident. _My_ long lost weapon.

If I could somehow make my way over...

As if reading my thoughts, Oceanus stepped in between me and it. "Don't even think about it, sea god," he hissed. "That weapon shall decorate my palace once I kill you!"

"You will not be killing anybody today, Titan," Hades declared, his voice calm and steady. Artemis nocked an arrow and pulled the bowstring taut, ready to fire. Apollo did the same. Athena leveled her spear and held her fear-striking shield in her other hand.

Oceanus took one glance at them and laughed, a booming, mocking laugh that resounded throughout the room. "You really think that you can defeat me? You can't even use your powers here! I am blessed by Lord Erebus, Primordial of Darkness himself! I will crush -"

He suddenly broke off and gave a roar of pain. A silver arrow was embedded deep in his shoulder. Ichor trickled down his arm and dripped onto the ground.

"You talk too much, _male_ ," Artemis spat. Moving like a blur, she nocked another arrow.

The Titan looked up from his wound. He wasn't laughing anymore. With an animalistic growl, he pulled out his sword. "Your heads shall be tributes to the Primordial Council! Attack!"

The monster army charged forward.

Apollo and Artemis fired their arrows. The lead monsters exploded into dust. Reload, fire, kill. The twin archers alone decimated the army.

Weaving amidst the raining arrows was Athena. Transfixing monsters with her shield and stabbing them while they were incapacitated, she left a trail of destruction in her wake. Hades fought alongside her, melting into shadows and appearing when the monsters least expected it.

I suddenly saw an opening in the writhing mass. With as much strength as I could muster, I launched myself through the monsters towards my trident.

But I wasn't five feet from the gleaming bronze handle when someone grabbed my arm and twisted it behind me, spinning me around. The leering face of Oceanus sneered at me.

"What's wrong?" he taunted. "Are you so weak that you can't even best a lowly Titan?" He reached for his sword.

Suddenly, he released me and screamed in agony, clutching at his side, where a pitch black blade had raked his skin open to the bone, Hades kicked him out of the way. "Quickly, brother! Grab your trident!"

I closed the remaining distance and pulled my old weapon off of the wall. A familiar feeling of warmth coursed through my hand and into my body; though no longer a symbol of power, it still recognized and embraced its old master. _It's good to have you back, old friend,_ I thought.

I turned to Hades. "Thanks for that," I said.

"Any time," he replied. "Brothers are supposed to look out for each other."

Brandishing my trident, I charged into the fray. I immediately singled out the Titan and rushed at him. In hindsight, maybe not the best idea. "Oceanus is mine!" I bellowed.

The grinning Titan met my glare. "I believe I heard my name?"

I didn't reply. Instead, I charged at Oceanus and stabbed at his legs. He parried my blow with his sword, and slashed at my face. I quickly side-stepped and blocked another lunge with the shaft of my trident, before pressing him backwards and stunning him with a flurry of thrusts.

Oceanus recovered faster than I thought, and stabbed at my arm. I gasped in pain as ichor poured out of the wound. "My, my, Poseidon," he taunted. "Out of practice already?"

"Even an out-of-practice, injured god can beat you!" I retorted, as I surged forward and raked his side with the prongs of my weapon.

Oceanus roared in pain and rage and staggered backwards, wildly swinging his sword in a wide arc. My trident connected with the blade, sending it skittering away from his grasp. Before he could reach out and grab it, I planted my feet on him.

"See you in a few centuries!" I grabbed my trident and stabbed downwards, preparing to slice open my former rival's chest.

"Poseidon! Help!" I spun around. Who needed my help? Everyone was holding their own against their enemies. Then I spotted a Cyclops grinning at me a few yards away.

Before I had the time to remember that Cyclopes could imitate voices, I was thrown to the ground. My trident fell out of my grasp and went skittering away. I tried to retrieve it, but I couldn't move. I opened my mouth to breath, and gasped as pain flooded my pores. Familiar pain. The pain of the cursed water torture I'd endured for so long. There was a cocoon of it surrounding me, choking me, suffocating me.

I'd forgotten that Oceanus controlled the tainted water.

I dimly saw the Titan stalk over to me, sword in hand.

"Prepare to meet your end, sea god," he hissed, ichor still dripping from the wound in his side. He raised his sword above his head, read to slice my body in two.

Then Oceanus lurched forwards, spraying godly blood all over my face. He crumbled to the ground, a spear protruding from his back.

"And that is why you never trust a sea god to accomplish anything." Athena stood over me, regarding me coldly. She unceremoniously yanked her spear out of Oceanus's motionless body, which promptly disintegrated to reform someplace else.

"Thanks," I said.

She didn't reply.

I turned around, ready to slaughter more monsters, and was met by a surprise. Upon the death of their commander, all the monsters had turned tail and were fleeing down the corridor we'd emerged from. Apollo and Artemis were having an impromptu archery contest. Most of the monsters didn't survive more than ten yards before being shot down.

I turned to Hades and Athena. "So... now what?"

As if in answer to my question, there was a rumbling sound. Cracks appeared in the walls of the room. Suddenly, with a mighty roar, the walls caved in and the ceiling collapsed on top of us.

* * *

I dug my way out of the piles of earth and stone and coughed the dust out of my airway. The others had done the same and were standing on the edge of the mountain of rubble. I quickly rejoined them.

"So now that we're out of there... what do we do?"

For once, even Athena didn't have an immediate answer.

After a long pause, she replied. "I guess, now we just roam through Tartarus and pray to Chaos that we can find some sort of exit into the mortal world."

I'd escaped from my prison, but I knew that my torment was only beginning. We had days, weeks, perhaps millennia ahead of us filled with harsh terrain and life-or-death struggles, not to mention the torture that Tartarus himself would most likely devise once he learned that we were free.

With a long sigh, I hurried forward after the four retreating figures.

* * *

 **So that's the end of Chapter 5, the longest chapter yet. Very different, I know. There's still some stuff I wrote that, when I read it, it still sounds weird. Any suggestions for improvement?**

 **As always, please review :)**

 **\- XxShadowOfTheFuturexX**


	6. AN

Sorry for not updating this story in a long time. Between procrastination and other things to do, I haven't had time to work on this. I'm also not that sure what I'll write for chapter 6. If you have any ideas, please pm me or leave a review. Thanks.

Just to be clear, this story is NOT discontinued or on hiatus.


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